A Flexible Workflow Solution for Facilities Management

Facilities managers can be unsung heroes of ensuring efficient business operation and keeping costs contained. Responsible for facility security, maintenance, and services, the facilities manager has to be able to multi-task and must be competent and flexible enough to handle a variety of different responsibilities on a day-to-day basis.

Specific duties of a facilities manager vary according to the business, the building and other facilities (like power plants). While people may not notice everything a facilities manager does every day, they certainly notice when facilities management is not done well. Online forms and automated workflows can be almost like a full-time assistant for a busy facilities manager. Here are some ways facilities managers can effectively put workflow software to use.

Managing Building Vendors

Managing vendors is an ongoing task, whether they provide cleaning services, commercial-grade floor mats at building entrances, or vending machines in employee break rooms. Vendor management is not about getting the lowest price, but about maximizing value. This requires continuous attention to detail and excellent communication. Online forms and workflows for managing vendors ensure that details are not overlooked and that at any time, facilities managers and vendors can review terms and responsibilities, ensuring everyone fulfills their obligations.

Ensuring Compliance with Safety Regulations

Noncompliance with safety regulations can be immensely costly to businesses. Facilities managers must understand all applicable safety rules, and ensure that employees and vendors follow them. An automated workflow for, say, ensuring periodic employee training takes place can help keep safety incidents to a minimum. And workflows for implementing new safety procedures ensure no steps are forgotten and create an audit trail as the workflow proceeds. The best part is that it can all be done without paper and without hand-completing paper forms.

Overseeing Maintenance and Custodial Responsibilities

HVAC systems, lighting, and other systems that ensure a clean, safe building in which employees work require regular inspection and maintenance. Some maintenance may be done on a monthly schedule, while other maintenance may be done quarterly or annually. Automated workflows keep it all straight. You can even design automated workflows to send out an automated email alert in advance of upcoming maintenance tasks so the facilities manager and their team will be ready.

A well-managed facility goes a long way to ensure that a business is able to keep operational costs reasonable. By preventing issues with vendors, ensuring compliance with safety regulations, and using workflows for selecting the best service providers, they can be a key ally in helping ensure that business funds are spent wisely and not wasted. And they also save money by ensuring all inspection and maintenance takes place on time so that minor problems don’t have a chance to turn into major problems.

Workflow software, in general, must be highly flexible to be a worthwhile investment, and nobody knows this more than the experienced facilities manager. They need workflow software that allows them to create fully customized online forms and workflows, complete with alerts and triggers to ensure that no scheduled inspections or maintenance fall by the wayside.

PerfectForms is ideal for the busy facilities manager. With an intuitive, drag-and-drop user interface, facilities managers can design forms and workflows to exactly suit their needs. They can, for example, create a workflow for distributing building keys to authorized personnel, create a vending management workflow, and make online forms employees can use to request maintenance for problems like burnt-out lights and malfunctioning thermostats.

It isn’t only the facilities manager who can benefit from workflow software like PerfectForms. Companies around the world have used it to manage HR tasks, for document management, for employee onboarding and out-processing, IT service management, and innumerable other tasks. If you are interested in what PerfectForms can do for your business, why not check out what it has done for other businesses and organizations? We have an extensive selection of case studies you can read that show you exactly how PerfectForms streamlines and automates business processes, saving money and time, while reducing errors.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 27th, 2017 at 8:00 am and is filed under Workflow Software. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.